The Oaks Fantasy: Examining the Arkansas Path to the First Friday in May

The Fantasy (G2), first run in 1973 at Oaklawn Park, has served as a key Kentucky Oaks (G1) prep long before the Road to the Oaks was established in 2013.

Today, it is part of the series’ championship races, virtually guaranteeing the winner a place in the Oaks starting gate at Churchill Downs. Here’s a look at how Arkansas has impacted the Kentucky Oaks over the past twenty years. 

2008—Eight Belles

Eight Belles swept Oaklawn’s trio of Oaks prep races: The Martha Washington S., the Honeybee S. (G3), and the Fantasy. Trainer Larry Jones decided to skip the Oaks and instead targeted the Kentucky Derby (G1), where she sought to become just the fourth filly ever to win the race. 

She finished a valiant second, unable to get past Big Brown, but she was 3 1/2 lengths clear of the other 18 colts in the field. After the wire, her forelegs suddenly gave way, and she suffered a catastrophic injury. Her death prompted the creation of the Equine Injury Database, which tracks and analyzes injuries to improve safety surfaces and protocols. She is the first non-winner buried at the Kentucky Derby Museum.

2009—Rachel Alexandra

Rachel Alexandra dominated the Fantasy by 8 3/4 lengths in her penultimate run before the first Friday in May, marking herself as the favorite. However, she still found new ways to dazzle the Oaks crowd when she won by an astounding 20 1/4 lengths, a record that still stands. She went on to defeat the colts in three Grade 1 contests: the Preakness S., Haskell S., and the Woodward S. 

2010—Blind Luck

Purchased for only $11,000 at the 2008 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky yearling sale, Blind Luck made her career debut at Calder Race Course in Miami, Fla., where she dominated by 13 1/4 lengths. She caught the eye of Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, who privately purchased her and sent her to Southern California. She ran her next seven races there, never finishing off the board. Hollendorfer shipped her to the Fantasy S. for her final Oaks prep. As she was in the habit of doing, Blind Luck surged from last to first to win 2 1/2 lengths ahead of D. Wayne Lukas-trained Tidal Pool. She repeated the last-to-first move in the Kentucky Oaks, winning by a nose and giving Hollendorfer his third Oaks score. 

2020—Shedaresthedevil

Staton Flurry, a major part of Shedaresthedevil’s ownership group, was born in Hot Springs, Ark., and raised on Trivista Street adjacent to the racetrack. He still works in the parking lots surrounding Oaklawn that his family owns in addition to real estate holdings. 

He parlayed the winnings from the first horse he claimed, and a keen eye and a bit of luck carried him to Shedaresthedevil. She won the 2020 Honeybee S. but finished third behind Swiss Skydiver and Venetian Harbor in the Fantasy.

The Oaks was delayed until September because of the coronavirus pandemic. So after the Fantasy, Shedaresthedevil added wins in a Churchill Downs allowance and the Indiana Oaks (G3) to her resume, yet she still entered the Oaks at 15–1.

In the stretch, she made a bid between horses, edged past Bob Baffert-trained Gamine, and fended off a challenge from Swiss Skydiver in the final stages to win by 1 1/2 lengths under a nearly empty grandstand. 

2022—Secret Oath

Secret Oath dominated the early Oaks preps at Oaklawn, winning the Martha Washington S. and the Honeybee by a combined 14 3/4 lengths. Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who had a history of not being afraid to run a strong filly against the colts, entered her in the Arkansas Derby (G1), where she finished third. 

In the Oaks, Secret Oath rallied wide around the final turn and stormed home to win by two lengths, besting favorite Nest. “Wayne can still train!” track announcer Travis Stone exclaimed as crossed the wire. She gave Lukas, at 86, a record-tying fifth victory in the Kentucky Oaks. Lukas passed away three years later at the age of 89. 

2024—Thorpedo Anna 

Thorpedo Anna’s four-length score in the Fantasy jumpstarted a blockbuster career. In the Oaks, she held off champion two-year-old filly Just F Y I on her way to a 4 3/4-length victory in the slop.

After the Oaks, she competed in five consecutive Grade 1 contests, winning all of them except the Travers S. against the colts, where she came in second. The final race in this streak was the Breeders Cup Distaff (G1). She was later named the Horse of the Year. 

Thorpedo Anna opened her four-year-old season back at Oaklawn with wins in the Azeri S. (G2) and the Apple Blossom H. (G1). After two off-the-board efforts in the second half 2025, Thorpedo Anna retired from racing.